How to Search Lamar County Court Records
Mississippi spreads court records across several offices, so Lamar County has no single all-court search page that covers Circuit, Chancery, County, Justice, municipal, jail, and statewide custody records at once. The smart approach is to identify the court level first, then go to the office or portal that holds that type of record. Felony and major civil files sit with Circuit Court. Divorce, estates, and land matters sit with Chancery Court. Traffic, misdemeanor, eviction, and small-claims matters sit with Justice Court. City citations sit with the relevant municipal court.
Before starting a Lamar County court records search, gather as much detail as possible. A full name, an approximate filing date, a case or instrument number, and the likely court level will all narrow the results. The county directory of departments is a reliable starting point for current office contacts and links. You can review the official Lamar County departments directory for clerk, sheriff, and court listings.
That directory groups the Circuit Clerk, Chancery Clerk, Justice Court, and County or Youth Court contacts in one place. Use it to confirm which office to call before traveling to Purvis.
- Identify the court level from the citation, notice, or document type.
- For Circuit or County cases, use Mississippi Electronic Courts or contact the Circuit Clerk at 203 Main Street.
- For land and Chancery instruments, open the Chancery Official Records Inquiry and search by name, date, or instrument number.
- For traffic, misdemeanor, eviction, or small-claims matters, call or visit Justice Court at 205 Main Street, Suite A.
- Treat online data as informational only and request a certified copy from the clerk when an official record is required.
The Lamar County Judicial System
Mississippi uses a split trial-court structure, and Lamar County reflects it fully. Circuit Court is the primary trial court for felony criminal cases, civil actions at law, major jury trials, and appeals from lower courts. Chancery Court is the equity court for divorce, custody, child support, paternity, estates, guardianships, conservatorships, civil commitments, and land matters. County Court adds a local civil and juvenile layer, while Justice Court and municipal courts handle limited-jurisdiction criminal, traffic, and civil disputes.
Lamar County belongs to the 15th Circuit Court District, which also covers Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Marion, and Pearl River Counties. It sits in the 10th Chancery District alongside Forrest, Marion, Pearl River, and Perry Counties. Appeals move through the Mississippi Court of Appeals and the Mississippi Supreme Court depending on case type and assignment. The state judiciary publishes a clear overview of these court roles for the public to review.
You can compare the layers using the Mississippi Judiciary court structure overview, which describes each trial and appellate level.
That structure explains why a divorce decree and a felony docket in the same county are held by two different clerks.
Case flow: Justice Court › County Court › Circuit Court › Mississippi Court of Appeals
| Court | Jurisdiction | Case Types |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit Court | Primary trial court; appeals from lower courts | Felonies, major civil actions, jury trials |
| Chancery Court | Equity and family | Divorce, estates, guardianships, land, commitments |
| County Court | Shared civil up to $200,000; juvenile | Eminent domain, transferred non-capital felonies, youth matters |
| Justice Court | Limited civil and criminal | Misdemeanors, traffic, evictions, small claims, bonds |
| Municipal Court | City limits only | Ordinance, city traffic, city misdemeanors |
Lamar County Court Offices in Purvis
The main county court offices cluster within a few blocks of Main Street in downtown Purvis. The Circuit Clerk and the Circuit and County Court Mississippi Electronic Courts locations share 203 Main Street. The Chancery Clerk and land-record office sit at 403 Main Street. Justice Court operates at 205 Main Street, Suite A, and the County or Youth Court administration is at 107 Main Street. Because the offices are split, a visitor researching both a divorce file and a criminal docket may need to walk between buildings.
County phone listings sometimes differ between the departments directory and individual office pages. For named elected officials, the directory generally gives the most direct line. The county also maintains a consolidated contact list for judges, clerks, and court offices.
Calling ahead is wise, since the office holding a record can confirm hours, fees, and whether a file is available at the counter. The county contact numbers page lists current phone lines for the courts and clerks.
Lamar County Trial Courts Compared
Choosing the right court saves time. Each Lamar County trial court has its own dollar limits, criminal reach, and record custodian. Justice Court carries a heavy local load, reporting roughly 6,000 civil cases and 7,100 criminal cases each year, with a $3,500 civil ceiling. County Court shares civil jurisdiction with Circuit and Chancery up to $200,000 and handles juvenile and transferred non-capital felony matters. Circuit Court takes felonies and the largest civil actions, while Chancery Court keeps the equity and family docket. A quick comparison helps match a record to the office that holds it.
| Court | Civil Limit | Criminal Reach | Record Custodian |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circuit Court | Major civil, no County Court cap | Felonies | Circuit Clerk |
| County Court | Up to $200,000 | Transferred non-capital felonies, juvenile | Circuit Clerk |
| Chancery Court | Equity matters | None (equity only) | Chancery Clerk |
| Justice Court | Up to $3,500 | Misdemeanors, traffic, bonds | Justice Court |
Types of Court Records Available in Lamar County
Lamar County court records cover the full range of criminal, civil, family, probate, and traffic matters. The Circuit Clerk publishes local case-type codes that show how cases are sorted. Criminal codes include Criminal Felony, Criminal Misdemeanor, DUI, Traffic, and Criminal Contempt. Civil codes include Chancery, Dissolution, Eminent Domain, Family, Law, Mental Health, Orders of Protection, Probate, Small Claims, and Tax. The Mississippi Bar offers a plain-language guide to what each court handles and which records stay sealed.
Different courts produce different records, so the record type usually tells you which office to contact for a Lamar County court records request.
The Mississippi Bar public court-system guide is a good orientation before you request a file.
- Criminal records - Circuit Court felony files and Justice Court misdemeanor and DUI matters.
- Civil records - law actions, evictions, replevins, garnishments, and small claims across several courts.
- Family and divorce records - Chancery Court divorce, custody, paternity, and support files.
- Probate records - Chancery Court estates, wills, guardianships, and conservatorships.
- Traffic records - Justice Court tickets and Hattiesburg municipal citations.
What Lamar County Court Records Show
A Lamar County court record is a structured set of fields that track a case from filing through disposition. Criminal files include indictments, arraignments, plea papers, bond orders, verdicts, sentencing, and any appeal. Civil and family files include complaints, summonses, motions, orders, and final judgments or decrees. Land instruments in the Chancery index expose instrument numbers, book and page references, parties, and related documents. Sensitive identifiers are redacted from images released online.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case Number | Local code such as CF, CM, DT, CH, D, or P that identifies court and case type. |
| Filing Date | Court filing, Chancery file date, booking date, or citation date. |
| Parties | Plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, respondent, grantor, grantee, or estate parties. |
| Charges / Cause | The offense charged or the civil cause of action. |
| Disposition | Current or final outcome, including open, disposed, sealed, or transferred. |
| Sentence / Judgment | Fines, costs, restitution, probation, decree terms, or money judgment. |
Public Access Laws for Lamar County Court Records
Mississippi treats most court and county records as open, subject to confidentiality statutes and court rules. The Mississippi Public Records Act sets the general right to inspect, while specific statutes restrict youth, adoption, and expunged records. Agencies may charge actual costs for searching, reviewing, copying, and mailing records, and they may not push routine responses past seven working days where they have extended-response procedures. Start with the office that created the record, then escalate to a formal public-records request if needed.
Key Statutes:
Miss. Code Ann. Title 25, Chapter 61 - the Public Records Act makes public records generally open for inspection unless a statute or rule makes them confidential.
Miss. Code Ann. § 25-61-5 - public bodies may not set procedures that allow production or denial later than seven working days from receipt.
Miss. Code Ann. § 43-21-261 - youth court records are disclosed only to authorized people or by order of the youth court.
Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-71 - eligible misdemeanor and some felony records may be expunged by petition, which changes public access.
Searching Lamar County Land and Chancery Records Online
The Chancery Records Online portal is the closest thing Lamar County has to a public records search engine, and it focuses on land and recorded instruments. It offers Official Land Records, Land Redemption and Delinquent Tax, and a Property Fraud Alert. The portal warns that its online index is not official and that only the Land Records Index inside the Lamar County Courthouse is the official index. Copies purchased online by credit card are final, carry a 3.5 percent service fee with a $2.00 minimum, and are non-refundable. The Official Records Inquiry exposes a deep set of search fields.
You can open the search at the Lamar County Chancery Official Records Inquiry and search several spelling variations to maximize results.
| Field Label | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Search All / Grantee / Grantor | radio | Search All is checked by default. |
| Full Name | text | Format lastname, firstname. |
| Begin Date / End Date | date | Index reaches back to 1/1/1800. |
| Recently Filed | radio | Last 7, 30, or 90 days. |
| Instrument Type | multi-select | Default is All Types. |
| Book / Page | text | Page field includes a greater-than checkbox. |
| Legal Desc. / Parcel ID | text | Property and parcel criteria. |
| Section / Township / Range | text | Legal land criteria. |
Restricted and Confidential Lamar County Court Records
Not every Lamar County court record is open. Youth Court is closed to the public, and its files are sealed except for authorized staff, a guardian ad litem or CASA where appointed, and people named in a youth-court order. Adoption pleadings, reports, files, and testimony are confidential by statute and not public records except by court order for good cause. Sealed and expunged criminal records drop out of ordinary search channels once an order is entered. Mental health and civil commitment files are processed by the Chancery Clerk but treated as sensitive rather than routine open civil files.
To view a sealed or restricted record, a person generally must show legal standing or obtain a court order. The path runs through the court with authority over the record, so contact the relevant clerk or an attorney about eligibility and the correct petition. The Chancery land portal also redacts Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver license numbers, and bank or credit account numbers from images released online.
Note: Confirm any sensitive detail with the originating office, since online indexes are informational and may omit sealed, redacted, or recently updated material.
Lamar County Court Records Fees
Fees vary by office and record type, and the Chancery Clerk requires all fees in advance. Recording fees on the Chancery schedule apply to the first five pages of an instrument, with $1.00 added for each additional page. Justice Court charges prepaid civil filing fees, and the Circuit Clerk handles marriage-license fees. State-level vital-record searches carry their own charges. The figures below come from the county and state sources that publish them.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Chancery recording, additional page | $1.00 per page after first five |
| Online land copy service fee | 3.5%, $2.00 minimum, non-refundable |
| Justice Court civil filing, one defendant | $84.00 |
| Justice Court civil filing, two defendants | $99.00 |
| Justice Court post-judgment action | $70.00 |
| Marriage license (Circuit Clerk) | $36.00, cash and credit only |
| MSDH five-year divorce index search | $17.00 |
Lamar County Inmate and Warrant Records
Custody and warrant information sits outside the court clerks and runs through the Sheriff and the courts that issue process. Sheriff Danny Rigel leads the Lamar County Sheriff's Department in Purvis, and the county links to an official JailTracker roster for jail bookings. The roster loads through a modern browser and may fail in text-only or older browsers, so calling the jail is the fallback. Lamar County does not publish a public countywide active-warrant database, so warrant checks route through the Sheriff, Justice Court, Circuit Court, and municipal courts depending on the underlying charge.
For the full roster walkthrough and contact numbers, see the Lamar County inmate records page, and for the warrant access chain and resolution steps, see the warrant records page. State prisoners appear in the Mississippi Department of Corrections search rather than the county roster.
Marriage, Divorce, and Probate Records in Lamar County
Marriage licenses are issued by the Circuit Clerk, where couples apply together with identification and pay a set fee. Divorce case files are Chancery Court records, and the state health department does not hold decrees, though it offers a five-year index search to locate the county, book, and page. Probate runs through Chancery Court as well, covering estates, wills, guardianships, and conservatorships. Start a request with the marriage and divorce records page or the probate records page to reach the correct clerk.
- Testator
- A person who makes a valid will directing how an estate is distributed.
- Executor
- The person named in a will to administer the estate and carry out its terms.
- Conservator
- A person appointed by the Chancery Court to manage the property or affairs of someone needing protection.
Federal Court for Lamar County Residents
Federal cases are separate from county court records. Lamar County falls in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Eastern Division, which sits in Hattiesburg. The William M. Colmer Federal Building and United States Courthouse stands at 701 North Main Street, Suite 200, Hattiesburg, MS 39401, with a main line of 601-255-6400. Federal crimes, federal-question civil cases, diversity cases, and federal habeas petitions are filed there, while bankruptcy goes to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. PACER provides federal docket and document access for those who need it.
The Lamar County Region and Its Courts
Lamar County is part of the Hattiesburg Metropolitan Statistical Area and is largely rural outside its northeast quarter. That geography matters for court users, because some residents live closer to Hattiesburg city and federal offices while the county clerks and courts cluster in Purvis. The county spans 500 square miles, with 497 square miles of land and about 3.4 square miles of water, and Interstate 59 and U.S. Highways 11 and 98 carry most traffic toward Purvis. County statistics pages outline the population and area used here.
You can review the county statistics page for population, area, and household figures.
One county statistics widget appears outdated, so the 2020 Census population of 64,222 is the more reliable figure for current use.
History of Lamar County Courts
Lamar County was carved out of Marion County in 1904, with Purvis as its county seat, and it is named for Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar. The split trial-court structure has shaped record access ever since, keeping divorce, estate, and land files with the Chancery Clerk and felony and major civil files with the Circuit Clerk. Court technology has modernized in stages, with Circuit Court electronic filing becoming mandatory in 2017 and the Mississippi Electronic Courts go-live for Lamar Circuit and County Court recorded as 11/4/2019. The county history page covers the founding and geography.
The official Lamar County history page describes the 1904 founding, the county seat, and the major highways.
That move from paper counters toward electronic filing explains why some records are searchable online while older files remain at the clerk's counter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I start a Lamar County court records search?
Start with the court level. Felony and major civil files sit with the Circuit Clerk at 203 Main Street in Purvis, divorce and probate files sit with the Chancery Clerk at 403 Main Street, and traffic, misdemeanor, eviction, and small-claims matters sit with Justice Court at 205 Main Street, Suite A. For Circuit and County cases the Mississippi Electronic Courts system may have the docket, while land instruments are searchable through the Chancery Official Records Inquiry. Calling the office that holds the file before visiting saves time.
Is there one website that searches every Lamar County court record?
No. Mississippi splits trial-court records across Circuit, Chancery, County, Justice, and municipal courts, and Lamar County has both a Circuit Clerk and a Chancery Clerk. There is no single portal that covers all of them. The Chancery Records Online portal handles land and recorded instruments, Mississippi Electronic Courts handles Circuit and County filings, and Justice Court matters require contacting that office directly. Identifying the record type first is the fastest route to the correct search tool.
How much do copies of Lamar County court records cost?
Costs depend on the office. The Chancery Clerk requires fees in advance, with recording fees covering the first five pages and $1.00 for each additional page. Online land copies carry a 3.5 percent service fee with a $2.00 minimum and are non-refundable. Justice Court civil filings run $84.00 for one defendant and $99.00 for two. A marriage license at the Circuit Clerk is $36.00, payable by cash or credit. Confirm certified-copy charges with the specific office.
Where are divorce records kept in Lamar County?
Divorce case files are Chancery Court records, held by the Chancery Clerk at 403 Main Street in Purvis. The Mississippi State Department of Health does not maintain divorce decrees, but it offers a five-year index search for $17 that locates the county, book, and page where a divorce was recorded. To obtain a certified copy of a decree, contact the Chancery Clerk directly. Sensitive family information and any sealed components remain restricted or redacted.
How do I find someone in the Lamar County jail?
The county links to an official JailTracker roster from the Sheriff's page. It loads through a modern browser and can fail in older or text-only browsers, so if it does not load, call the jail or the Sheriff's Office for booking information. The roster covers county detainees. People sentenced to state prison appear in the Mississippi Department of Corrections inmate search instead, which accepts a first name, last name, or MDOC identification number.
Does Lamar County have an online warrant search?
No public countywide warrant database was located. Warrant information routes through the issuing court and the Sheriff. Justice Court handles bench warrants for missed traffic or misdemeanor dates, Circuit Court handles felony capias and revocation warrants, and municipal courts issue warrants for missed city-court dates. To check on a possible warrant, contact the court likely to have issued it and ask whether it is active, whether bond is set, and what to do next. Avoid third-party warrant lists.
Are youth and adoption records open to the public?
No. Youth Court is closed to the public, and its records are sealed except for authorized staff, an appointed guardian ad litem or CASA, and people named in a youth-court order. Adoption pleadings, reports, and files are confidential by statute and are not public records except by court order for good cause. Expunged criminal records also drop out of ordinary public search channels once the order is entered. For access questions, contact the clerk of the relevant court or an attorney.